What’s more heated in the NBA than the quest for a playoff spot in the cutthroat Western Conference? The battle to become a sneaker king, of course.

Being able to turn heads inside an arena and throughout social media with their kicks is another way the league’s highly competitive athletes keep score. So who is winning the race? Here is our highly unofficial list of the 10 best pairs of sneakers we could find players rocking on the court this season:

The Boston Celtics point guard has really let the creative juices flow with the fourth model of his Nike signature sneaker. He broke this out when the Celtics traveled to London to play the 76ers at O2 Arena. The blue-and-yellow colorway featured red violins, which pay tribute to London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a nod to Irving’s eclectic music tastes.

Yes, this pair was meant to reach into the Nike vault and pay tribute to the classic — and, frankly, hideous — Waffle Trainer from the 1970s. But the shoe also has a distinctly Nuggets flavor to it, right? Might LeBron have been giving clues that he’ll be taking his talents to Denver when free agency hits this summer? No? OK.

Mismatched pairs have become a growing trend in the NBA this season. Just this week Nuggets rookie Monte Morris was strolling through Pepsi Center with a yellow shoe on one foot and a purple one on the other. Young took it to another level during a Christmas Day game against the Cavaliers by sporting a Tracy McGrady retro Adidas model in Golden State colors.

The two-time NBA MVP has been wearing the fourth installment of his signature for most of the season, but he laced up an original last month and melted hearts with pictures of his two young kids, Riley and Ryan.

The Jordan 11 is one of the most famous sneakers of all time, so wearing that retro version alone gives players high marks. But Morris went above and beyond with this custom Christmas version that included snowmen, snowflakes and the three-leaf clovers — don’t the lucky ones have four leaves? — that pay tribute to his Celtics.

You can’t feature one sneaker-loving twin without the other, right? Perhaps the Doppler radar map on this retro version of former Magic star Penny Hardaway’s kicks was predicting a stormy season ahead for the Wizards.

This was the most creative season yet for Black History Month sneakers in the NBA. Thoughtful tributes were paid to Muhammad Ali, the Selma-to-Montgomery march and even churches important to players, but this strong, clear design made for Anthony-Towns by his personal sneaker designer, Salvador Amezcua, was a sole above. Anthony-Towns could really have his own category given some of the custom designs he’s worn this season. Just search out the pair he had made to pay tribute to the Super Bowl won by his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

In another sneaker designed by Amezcua, better known in the sneaker world as Kickstradomis, Harden pays tribute to each of his basketball stops on his road to the Houston Rockets, beginning with his high school and AAU days in California. His unmistakable, bearded silhouette is a winning touch, particularly contrasted against the crisp, white canvas of the shoe.

2. Jamal Murray in the Adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 “ABA Night”

Jamal Murray had these on Tuesday, I assume something is coming tonight for the #Nuggets ABA night.

Murray was so eager to wear this pair of shoes customized by Denver artist James Conca that he laced them up one game earlier than scheduled. He has since worn other Conca designs that pay impressive tribute to the franchise’s heritage. But it’s hard to beat an original, and the throwback elements of the “ABA Night” sneaker that blend with the sleek new-age elements of the shoe make it a show-stopper.

“Everybody has their own style,” Murray said. “I just like to come out wearing something fresh.”

James is the NBA’s biggest star. He knows there are dozens of cameras pointed every night not only at his play on the court, but also at his sneakers. So he sent a simple message while playing in Washington D.C. earlier this season by wearing this mismatched pair — again, one of the league’s biggest trends — of black and white shoes with the word “Equality” in prominent lettering on the back — “The King” proving, once again, that he owns the sneaker crown.

In a fresh episode of the Nuggets Ink Podcast, Gina Mizell and Nick Kosmider talk about a crushing loss for the Nuggets in Los Angeles, the team's bench struggles, the brutal Western Conference and whether the Nuggets have run out of time in the quest for the postseason.